The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

130 Not the Most Suitable Ingredients

The person that E Cheng Jun walked up to was once again a female contestant. With the ninjas of the Si clan blocking twenty of the sixty-four places on the show, there were a lot more men around than women. So she paid special attention to picking out enough of the female contestants for her short interviews.

This was a matter of course. After all, they wanted to reach different segments of the audience. Even though 'Golden Spoon' was a cooking show and most people would come for the dishes and the cooking itself or maybe just to see some creativity, there was also another side to this: Especially for the episodes shown online, there was a decent chance to pull viewers in just by having good-looking contestants on camera.

In that regard, 'Golden Spoon' had gotten incredibly lucky. While not everyone might look like a model, about half the people had the looks to achieve some small fame. Well, coupled with their identities, a good part of them might be able to get more than just a little fame.

This was especially true for the men. Just casually pulling one of the members of the Si clan in front of the lens, viewers would definitely be happy. All of them were young men, good-looking in their own way but different types to satisfy all kinds of viewers. They also had the identities to match. Who wouldn't want to date a successful athlete, musician, or doctor? Maybe some members like Si Shi Jiu who worked in politics or Si Shi Liu as a person in the police force would give some people pause but the others were absolutely top-notch men that shouldn't be passed up on!

Not even looking at the ninjas, there were still other contestants such as Zhao Li Yu who could certainly excite the viewers. He was about the same age as Si Yi, and could definitely also be described as handsome. He had that slightly unkempt look about him, where you couldn't help but wonder if he had just gotten up or had styled it this way specifically. Either way, handsome men would be forgiven by the audience even if it was the former so there was no need to worry.

As for the female contestants, the problem was really just that their numbers couldn't keep up with the men. It didn't help that there were also contestants among them like Ye Ping who looked like somebody's over-excited aunt. Unless the viewers had very specific tastes, she wasn't the kind of eye candy anyone would lick the screen for. Thankfully, the same couldn't be said about other female contestants and as long as enough time was spent on them, the impression of having too few women on the show could be mitigated.

The contestant E Cheng Jun had picked out to be pushed into the limelight this time around was called Tong Xinyi. She seemed to be in her late twenties and had a very warm demeanor. As soon as E Cheng Jun approached her, she looked up with a bright smile that would definitely be able to warm the hearts of the audience.

E Cheng Jun smiled back and went to stand next to her, looking over her shoulder. "Ms. Tong, ah, can you tell me about your process? For example, I see that you seem to have exchanged the meat. You are one of the few contestants that did. Is there a special reason?"

Xinyi put the knife to the side and turned around to E Cheng Jun, giving her her full attention. "Well, when we got our feedback for the previous task, I was inspired by what everyone said about their dishes. Everyone was thinking up situations when they would make the dish and for whom, choosing a certain way to do the task because of that.

"When I heard that, I was a bit ashamed. At that time, I was only thinking I had to make this dish and picked one version that I was familiar with, not thinking too deeply. Hearing everyone talk about their reasons made me realize that I wasn't being serious enough. So for this task, I am also trying to think about what I would like to do based on a specific situation.

"It gives some insight and I feel like this will allow me to learn more but I feel that it also makes matters more difficult. You see, for me, eating is something that should be shared with others. It's the most fun if you eat together with family or friends.